The Vermont Fair Repair Act is something I believe that most of us can get behind since it would allow us to get our equipment repaired or to repair it ourselves for a reasonable rate not beholden to the manufacturer’s monopolizing of repair. And we all know that monopolizing drives prices up and limits innovations since there is no competition.
But this is the sticking point for big corporations who want to have all the control over what you and I have bought from them. They contend that since there is software in the machine that the machine still belongs to them and that the money we spent to purchase the machine does not mean we own it. Really!
Even after the warranty is over they don’t want us to use after-market parts or to tinker with it on our own or to hack the software to get it to work. We have to go crawling back to them to fix it at a premium or to be told that the parts are no longer available and we have to buy another machine. Imagine how much waste there is in this!
This law would let us do what we would do anyway but without a major corporation taking us to court and taking the farm. This law would help us get ’er up and runnin’ again without a worry using our Yankee know-how.
The Fair Repair Act is aimed against planned obsolescence, reducing e-waste, and giving consumers and repair professionals more freedom to repair their consumer electronics. As someone who frequently has to deal with repairs, I support it.
Michael Doran
Vergennes